Dual purpose distributing system for rotary offset and lithographic presses



March 8, 1938. J G. GQEDIKE 2,110,216

DUAL PURPOSHDISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR ROTARY OFFSET AND LITHOGRAPHICPRESSES Filed Sept. 10, 1937 //7 very To? (fa/1n 6i. 6060'1/(6 WWWPatented Mar. 8, 1938 a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DUAL PURPOSEDISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR ROTARY OFFSET AND LITHO- GRAPHIC PRESSES 7Claims.

(Granted under the at of March a, 1883, as

- amended April so, 1928; 3'10 0. G. 757) This invention describedherein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government forgovernmental purposes, without the payment to me. of any royaltythereon.

This invention relates to rotary ofiset and lithographic presses andparticularly to improvements in the ink and water distributing rollersystems of these presses, which dampen the plate surface with water andapply ink to the design which is represented by the ink sensitive areasof the plate surface.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a dual purpose ink andwater distributing system for rotary ofiset andlithographic presseswhereby the mutually repellent substances of lithographic offset ink andwater are distributed simultaneously through the distributing system ofthe press to the plate surface thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water and ink feed forsupplying water and ink to the surface of an ink distributing drumcylinder of a rotary offset and lithographic press whereby the water andink are simultaneously distributed to the plate cylinder of the press byan identical roller system. 4

Another object of the invention is to provide additional rollers on thedistributing system of a rotary ofiset or lithographic press forgathering up any paper, lint or dust from the plate surface of thepress.

In the type of rotary, offset and lithographic presses in use forlithographic, photo-litho offset work anddeep etch lithography wherewater is fed direct to the plate surface of the press by a separam waterdistributing system, it has been found that the work is not as'satisfactory as compared with the work produced when the water isdistributed to the plate surface simultaneously with the ink. I

Also in the operation of an offset press on long runs considerabledifliculty is encountered due to lint from the paperwhich is. depositedon the plate surface-of the press and eventually works up to thedistributing rollers thereof.

This invention applies to a slight elaboration of the present form ofink distributing system of rotary, offset and lithographic presseswhereby a water feed is applied to the ink distributing roller system,thereby converting the system from the single purpose of inkdistribution to the dual purpose of distributing the mutually repellentsubstances, lithographic ofiset ink of a greasy nature and water, and toprovide meansfor removing the lint which accumulates on the press.

offset or lithographic press having my invention which will hereinafterappear.

In order that my invention may be readily understood reference is had tothe accompanying 0 drawingin which corresponding parts are indicated bylike reference charactersand in which the drawing is a diagrammaticalview of a rotary,

applied thereto.

In the illustrated embodiment characterizing the invention A indicatesgenerally a rotary offset or lithographic press comprising a platecylinder (l) on which is mounted a lithographic plate (2) containing thedesign to be printed and an ink and water distributing system includingan ink distributing drum or roller (3).

The ink for the ink distributing drum (3) is obtained from a slowlyrotating ink fountaingg roller (4) that is in true alignment with theinkdistributing drum, but set out of actual contact therewith by a gap (5)between .005 of an inch to .015 of an inch. Contact is gained betweenthese rollers (3) and (4) by the depth of the layer of 35 ink'which ismoulded on the surface of the ink. fountain roller by a steel blade ('6)which is adjustable by a thumb screw (1), to vary the depth of the layerof ink thereby varying the amount of ink fed to the ink drum (3). Oneedge of the adjustable steel blade (6) intercepts the surface of theslow rotating ink fountain roller (4) thereby forming a reservoir forink.

In this method of feeding ink to the ink dis- 45 tributing drum, the inkfrom the fountain roller (4) jumps the gap (5) and the consistency ofthe ink .used permits this action. In order .to take care of anysplashing of .the ink due to the high speed of the distributing drum(3), a small disso tributing roller (8) is provided which rolls the inkback against the surface of the drum and assists the distribution of theink. This method of feeding' the ink to the ink distributing drumeliminates the necessity for the present type of ductor ,roller and itsattendant reciprocating action and mechanism, and interrupted feed ofink.

The ink is distributed in the direction of travel of the distributingdrum (3) and in turn passes under distributingrollers (9) and (9'),which contacts with distributing rollers (III) and (ILII), and. thenceunder a closecontact distributing roller (I I). drum (3) is'conveyed tothe plate cylinder (I) by means of a duplicate set of connectingrdistributing rollers'(I2) and (I2'), (I3) and (I3'),

riders (I4) and (I4') from which it is distributed to form rollers (I5)and(I5') and thence to the surface of the fountain roller (I8) isdiverted from the surface of the fountain roller and runs down the flatsurface of the scraper to the lower edge thereof from which it falls indrops (2|) to the surface of the distributing drum or roller (3).The'distributing drum (3) rotating in the direction of the arrow causesthe water to pass under the distributing roller (9) having thedistributing roller (IO') in contact therewith which has the effect ofspreading the water to an even film which travels with and on thesurface of the distributing drum (3) to the line of contact with theclose contact distributing roller (I I) and at this point if the wateris in excess on the surface. of the distributing drum a bead (22) ofwater will form and only suiiicient water will pass this line of contactto permit the successful operation of the press. The bead (22) at theline of contact of the distributing drum (3) is the visible indicationof the water feed and as it enlarges the action of the water fountainroller (I8) may be stopped as this bead may enlarge to a depth betweenthe roller to f of an inch without spilling at the ends which is dueentirely to the surface tension of the water. The film of water in turncontacts the connecting distributing rollers (I2) and (I2') and thisfilm of water is split in turn by these rollers (I2) and (I2'), whichreduces the film on the ink distributing drum (3) at this point for thereception of the ink on the drum (3), as it passes to the line ofcontact with the layer of ink on the surface of the ink fountain roller(4). The distribution of the water continues from the-connectingdistributing rollers (I2) and (I2') to connecting distributing rollers(I3) and (I3'), which contact with the riders (I4) and (I4') from whichit is distributed to the form rollers (I5) and (I5') and thence to theplate cylinder (I). of the press. In the direction of travel of theplate cylinder (I) as indicated by the arrow, the set of connectingdistributing rollers (I2) and (I3), rider (I4) and the form rollers (I5)will receive less water than the set of connectingdistributing rollers(I2') and (I3'), rider (I4) and the form rollers (I5'). The distributingdrum or roller (3) is termed the ink drum in the separate distributingsystem, but in this dual distributing system it is fully as much a waterdrum;

In order to gather up any paper, lint or dust which is deposited on theplate cylinder and The ink on the ink distributing.v

eventually works up to the distributing rollers, two distributingrollers (23) and (24) are provided. In a complete revolution of thepress the surface of the plate (2) is turned under the form rollers (I5)and (I5') and the first of the form rollers (I5') will gather any paper,lint or dust from the plate surface and carry it up to the rider (I4')The two rollers (23) and (24) are mounted above the rider (W) as lintgatherers. The roller (23) in contactwith the rider (I4') will gatherthe lint from the surface of the rider (I4') and connecting with theroller (24) continue to gather lint until a point is reached where thelint must be removed which is easily done by washing the surface of therollers, (23) and (24).

It will thus be seen that I have provided a high- :ly novel andeflicient form of a dual purpose distributing system for rotary offsetand lithographic presses, which simultaneously distributes the mutuallyrepellent substances, ink of a greasy 'nature, and water, to alithographic or photolitho offset plate surface by an arrangement ofrollers in actual contact. The rollers in actual contact in the systembeing subject to various arrangements and the system could beaccomplished by several means. Even though I have herein described myinvention as comprising certain details of construction and operation ofparts, it is nevertheless to be understood that various changes may bemade therein without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. The method of simultaneously inking and dampening printing surfacesof rotary oifset and lithographic printing members, which consists infeeding water in the form of drops from a source of supply to adistributing system, transmitting the water together with a film of inkto a printing surface through said distributingsystem, whereby an inkrepellent coating of water'will be applied to the non-design portions ofthe printing surface, and ink will be applied to the design portions ofsaid surface.

2. In a printing press, the combination with a printing member, inkingmechanism for applying ink tosaid member, a dampening mechanism forsupplying water to said-inking mechanism, said dampening mechanismcomprising a source of water supply, a water feed roller mounted thereonand means for dropping water from said roller to said inking mechanism.

3. In a printing press, the combination with a printing member, inkingmechanism for supplying ink to said member including a high speeddistributing drum and a slow speed ink fountain roller having a layer ofink provided thereon, said roller adapted to apply ink to saiddistributing a a printing member, inking mechanism including a slowspeed ink fountain roller and a high speed ink and water distributingdrum, means for supplying ink to said drum, means for dropping waterthereon, and means for transmitting the ink and water from said drum tosaid printing member, said'last mentioned means comprising a duplicateset of ink rollers including riders, ink

distributing and form rollers. A

5. In a printing press, the combination with a printing member, amechanism for applying ink and water to said member including a highspeed distributing drum, a mechanism for applying ink to said drum, saidmechanism comprising a slow speed ink fountain roller having inkprovided thereon, said ink fountain roller being out of contact withsaid drum, and adapted to apply ink to said drum by the drum contactingwith the ink on said roller, an adjustable blade in contact with saidroller, a distributing roller in contact with said drum for rolling backink on said drum to" the surface thereof, a duplicate set ofdistributing rollers in contact with the upper portion of said drum,means for transmitting the ink from said drum to said printing member,said means comprising a duplicate set of contact distributing rollers,ridersand form rollers, a drip water feed for supplying water to saidprinting member through said drum and said duplicate set of contactdistributing rollers, riders and form rollers and a distributing rollerin close contact with said drum for regulating the water supplied tosaid printing member.

6. In a printing press, the combination with a printing member, an inkand water distributing system including a distributing drum, means forsupplying ink and water to said drum, means for transmitting the watertogether with a film of ink from said drum to said printing member, saidlast mentioned means comprising ink rollers including a duplicate set ofriders, ink distributors and form rollers, and additional rollerscontacting one of said riders for gathering up lint from the printingmember.

7. The method of simultaneously inking and dampening printing surfacesof rotary ofiest and lithographic printing members, which consists infeeding a dampening fluid in the form of drops from a source of supplyto a distributing system, transmitting the dampening fluid together witha film of ink to a printing surface through said distributing system,whereby an ink repellent coating of dampening fluid will be applied tothe non-design portions of the printing surface, and ink will be appliedto the design portions of said surface.

JOHN G. GOEDIKE.

